EVOLUTION OF THE FLYING LATEEN

Figure 1. Square rig
In the very early days of sail, most rigs were a mast, a yard and a square sail.

Figure 2. Early lateen
Perhaps as long as 2,000 years ago, a sailor (whose name is lost in history) brought one end of the yard down to the deck, attached a triangular sail to it and created the first lateen sail. It was a significant development, enabling ships to be less dependent upon the direction of the wind. It worked well on one tack when the yard (now a luff spar) was on the leeward side of the mast but because of the distortion of the sail by the mast on the other tack, it was called the "bad tack."

Figure 3. Early split rig
It thus gave way to the so-called "split rigs," the earliest of which were gaff-rigged mains and jibs.

Figure 4. Present split rig
Much later, the split rig evolved into the current "marconi"-rigged mains and jibs. Whether they were sloops, cutters, schooners, ketches or yawls, the vertical mast supporting the respective rigs prevailed and exists to this day. Downwind, the blanketing effect of the main on the jib and the off-centerline thrust of the sails hanging off to leeward causes "weather helm" and in severe conditions "broaching." Wing-and-wing sailing with jibs and/or spinnakers can help but the systems involved in setting, controlling and adjusting all these sails, particularly when racing, become ever more complex. Even when cruising, particularly in sudden wind-shift situations, all (many) hands are required. A particularly sad effect of all this is less sailing and more motoring.

Figure 5. Flying lateen
The Flying Lateen has resurrected the lateen sail by simply getting the mast out of its way. A swivel attachment at the top of the sharply raked mast and another swivel attachment on deck directly beneath the upper one create a "phantom mast" around which the lateen sail, with its luff spar and boom, freely flies on any tack and/or point of sail. Roller furling into the luff spar finishes off a rig that is a wonder of simplicity. Getting underway involves pulling on the sail's outhaul, bringing it out of the luff spar and attaching it to the end of the boom. From then on, sailing is merely tending the helm. The roller-furling feature functions as a reefing system as well as the sail-stowage system. Sailing, even with a two-master (as in a schooner or ketch), is a simple, single-handed endeavor. The dividend that goes with all this is that neither aestetics nor performance is sacrificed...on the contrary, they are enhanced as are safety and the pure pleasures of sailing.